The Trouble With Loving the Loved
by xForeverDazzledx
Summary: ONESHOT After Jerome and Mara's second fake date, Joy calls out Jerome for not telling Mara the truth about Mick's "Australian girl." But soon the conversation turns into a vent session as they realize they have a lot more in common than they thought.


With their hands at their sides, Jerome and Mara leisurely strolled down the upstairs hallway. Jerome's hand ached to grab hers, but he restrained himself. _Take it slow,_ he reminded himself, _Don't scare her away._

They had just arrived back from their second date. It wasn't anything extra special. They had taken Eddie and Patricia's date idea and went to dinner and a movie. Simple enough that it could be considered friendly, but also date-like enough that they could use it as another setup to make Mick jealous. He liked the idea of them going on dates, even if they were fake.

They arrived at Mara's bedroom door and they turned to face each other.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Jerome," she said to him, smiling.

"It was my pleasure, Mara."

"But really, thank you. For all of this, everything that you've done to help me with the Mick situation."

"Like I said, it was my pleasure. Plus, you helped me so much with my father, and Poppy. It's the least I can do." He smiled back at her.

"Well, good night I guess."

"Good night, Mara." He reached out for a hug and she gladly accepted.

"You're a great friend, Jerome."

_Friend_, he thought. He hated the word, but he loved it's ability to give him time to spend with her.

He held her tight for one last blissful second and tried not to let his sadness show when she let go.

Flashing him one last smile, she slipped into her room and shut the door.

Alone now, Jerome leaned against the door and sighed, closing his eyes. Why was she so _perfect_? Why did she have to love someone else?

"That was some hug."

His eyes flew open and he found Joy standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here, Joy?" he asked, sounding annoyed to hide his embarrassment.

"Well I _was_ going to my room, but then I saw you and Mara and I thought I'd give you a moment alone," she stated, "You're lucky I did though."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why?"

She smirked. "I know what you're doing to her. And I know about Mick."

His eyes were wide now. "How did you find out?" he questioned quickly.

Joy looked at the door to her bedroom, where she knew Mara was, and then turned back to Jerome. "Walk with me," she told him. He nodded, and they went through the door to the main lobby and sat on the top stair.

"I know because of Chum Chatter," she explained, "I basically live on that website. Mick's status was on my newsfeed. That's how you found out, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

She didn't let him finish. "You're just lucky Mara's too set on her school work to check her newsfeed as much as I do. She only goes on to check for notifications from Mick and to post new pictures from your dates. She hasn't thought to check Mick's profile. At least not yet. You're lucky, Clarke."

He was silent for a moment, pondering on what she said. He _was_ lucky. He couldn't keep the wi-fi in the house down forever. And it wasn't just the fact that Mara hadn't been stalking Mick's profile that saved him. He was lucky that Joy hadn't told Mara everything herself.

"Why don't you just tell her?" he asked, "You seem to be disapproving of this whole ordeal, why not just end it?"

"I thought about it," she admitted, "But then I realized how much you fancy her, and I felt sorry for you."

"Since when do you care about my feelings?"

"Since I realized we had the same feelings," she explained.

He was confused now. "Wait… what?"

"You really like Mara. Almost love her, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"And you're fully aware that she's in love with someone else, who love's her back just as much."

'I think we just established that," he scoffed.

"But that doesn't stop you from trying. You treasure every moment with her. You take any opportunity to hold her. You might even steal a kiss during those moments when you can't control yourself."

"Either you're stalking me or you can read my mind…"

She laughed, "Neither. I told you, I have the same feelings. But for Fabian."

It was like a light bulb suddenly went on in his head. "Oh. Right. I knew that. Kind of."

"I haven't exactly been discreet about it," she admitted.

He sighed, "Nor have I now that I think about it."

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Sucks doesn't cover half of it."

"Hey, at least she's not pushing you away," she reminded him, "I cannot tell you how many times Fabian has friend zoned me."

"She won't be playing along when she finds out that Mick actually doesn't have am Australian girlfriend. And that I didn't tell her as soon as I found out."

She looked up at him, surprised. "You're going to tell her?"

"I'm going to have to at some point, aren't I? She'll be less mad if she hears it from me, anyway. I don't want her to find out on her own and realize I already knew."

"That's really brave of you, Jerome. I know how hard it can be to talk to someone directly like that. i talked to Fabian after the kissing… incident, at the ball. I was so scared, but it was the right thing to do. I apologized, and he seemed okay with it. Even after I made him clear of my feelings."

"Your situation is different though. Fabian and Nina aren't dating anymore. Mick and Mara still are. Well, not technically, but Mara told me she thought they would get back together when he get's back from Australia."

"Trust me, Fabian and Nina are just as complicated. Nina acts as if she owns him or something. If I utter one word to him she shoots me death glares. It didn't bother me at first, but I think she's convinced him to stop talking to me now. He's been acting so mean lately."

"You know, he has seemed a little off recently."

"I don't know what to do now. I want to be over him, especially after the way he's been treating me. But I can't."

"They say time's the only thing that heals heart break, right?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I guess."

He shook his head. "I don't buy it. I've wanted to be over Mara since the day she started dating Mick. But I can't. I can't help the fact that I want to be with her." He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Love sucks, doesn't it?" Joy said sighing.

"Yeah. A lot."

Suddenly they heard Victor trodding up the cellar stairs and into the main entry hall. Pulling out his pin, he announced, "It is ten o'clock. You have five minutes precisely and then I want to hear a pin drop." The pin clanked against the floor. He picked it up and yelled to Joy and Jerome, "You two. Bed. _Now._"

They hastily stood up.

"Thanks for letting me vent to you," she said to him.

"I should be the one thanking you. For not ruining things with me and Mara."

Joy shrugged. "it's nothing. I'd rather see you work it out yourself. Just do me a favor though?"

"Yeah?"

"If there's ever a time where you could help me with Fabian… do it please?"

"I think I can manage that."

He was about to walk down the stairs when Joy spoke up again, "Oh, and, Jerome?"

He looked up at her.

"For the record, I'd much prefer to see Jara than Mickara."

"What?"

She giggled at his confusion. "I want you to end up with Mara, not Mick."

"Oh. Thanks," he said, smiling slightly, "And don't worry to much about Fabian. He's a good guy, I know he is." _Unlike m_e, he thought, but he didn't say it aloud.

She nodded. "I know he is." With that, she made her way back to her room, and he traveled to his, both imagining the happy endings they feared they would never get.

**AN: So what did you think? I started writing this after House of Status/House of Laments aired, but never got to finish it until now. I feel like Jerome is slightly OOC, but maybe that's me being critical of myself? I wanted to show his emotional side, but we don't get to see that often. Let me know what you think and review please :)**


End file.
